And Vinicius was back to his Vinicius best against Salzburg. The Brazilian footballer shone in the victory over the Austrians, and the key was not that he did almost everything right, but that he worked together with the rest of his team like never before, creating superiority and speed in the game, creating the environment where he feels most comfortable, and putting on a display of individual skill, but also of teamwork.
Xabi Alonso puts Vinicius to work
Xabi Alonso said it the day before at a press conference, and he emphasized Vinicius. Everyone has to work here, every member of the squad has to be involved in defensive tasks, and that’s how the Brazilian started the game, leading Real Madrid’s pressure, being the first line of defense in a team that was more united than ever, pressing as a unit in the opponent’s area, not giving Salzburg any options to get the ball out. Vinicius was well supported in the pressure by Gonzalo, who has come to take the world by storm and is not just knocking on the door, he is tearing it down.
This pressing work and quick ball recoveries gave wings to Vinicius, who took advantage of the defensive work to shine in attack after a long time.
Real Madrid took control of the midfield, where most of the balls were won, and from there, the combination of players allowed the Brazilian to find spaces to create danger. He had a very clear chance before the first goal, after a combination of passes in midfield that ended with a through ball for the Brazilian, who found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper.
He was eager and missed, but that would not happen again five minutes later. After another steal by the Whites, now in a more defensive phase of the game, Bellingham grabbed the ball in the middle of the field, looked up and threaded a ball through the number 10 lane to leave Vinicius and Gonzalo one-on-one. The presence of the youth player paved the way for him, he feinted to pass him on the run, cut back to the left and crossed with his left foot from the edge of the area to make the difficult look easy and open the scoring, putting the team on track for the last 16.
Quality and solidarity in the second goal
The icing on the cake came with the second goal. Once again, it was a defensive move by the Whites, this time in the vicinity of the opposition’s area: the pressure left a loose ball for Vinicius to steal and he found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper. He tried to dribble, but seeing that the keeper had read his intentions, he left the ball dead with a step so that Valverde could score the second with ease.
Vinicius and his other side
We saw a side of Vinicius that we haven’t seen all year, supportive and committed to the team. It’s no coincidence that this collective effort has had an impact on the attack, which is what was most asked of the Brazilian, to get involved with his teammates. On the day he did, he shone again.
Credit must go to Xabi Alonso, who has made it clear in public that Vinicius has to work hard, and he has surely insisted on this in private. His attitude, along with that of the rest of his players, paid off. Yesterday’s image was different, very different from what we have seen throughout the year, and the team has hardly changed, but the idea has changed.